Holy Cross takes down depleted Rummel squad

George Benoit of Holy Cross takes down Rummel's Joe Kerry in a 138-pound match on Nov. 14

Holy Cross came to Rummel on Wednesday night and won a dual meet 59-20 over a Raiders squad severely depleted by the ongoing state football playoffs. The Tigers won six of 10 matches and took another four by forfeit.

“The boys have been wrestling really well all the way since last year,” Holy Cross Coach Eric DesOrmeaux said. “We came up a couple points short in the state meet last year, and the kids really sat down and devoted their entire offseason to getting better. We still have a long way to go. You can't win a state championship at this time of year -- that happens in February. But as we go through the year, all we think about is that next match.”

Holy Cross started hot. In the 106-pound class, Beau Bush pinned Tucker Boesch in 1:25. It took Dylan Soileau just 51 seconds to pin Josh Duhon in the 113-pound class.

The Tigers’ George Benoit put forth one of the night’s most dominant performances, jumping out to an early lead and scoring a technical fall, 18-1, over Joe Kerry in the 138-pound class.

“I just went out there and had fun. If I don't enjoy the match, it's not going to go well,” Benoit said. “There's no reason to sit there in a match and stop aggressing. Why do that when you can keep going the whole match and set the pace?”

Benoit placed second in Division II last year, and won the Warrior Open to kick off this season.

“George is an exceptional wrestler,” DesOrmeaux said. “He stays late every day with the coaches to get extra time in. He's definitely a mat rat -- a kid we have to kick out every day. George is another one who works really hard in the offseason, tweaking those small moves so he can go out there and make it look easy.”

Rick LaCava, wrestling in the 132-pound class, was a bright spot for Rummel. Trailing 5-4 at the end of the first round, he dominated the final two periods and defeated Nicholas Bonck 23-7.

“I gave up a sloppy takedown to my back in the first period, but you can't let that stuff get to your head,” LaCava said. “I knew I was going to dominate the kid from the beginning. That's just my philosophy going into every match. I'm supposed to dominate every kid in the state.”

LaCava was disappointed by the effort put forth by some of his fellow wrestlers, even under difficult circumstances.

“Out of 14 weight classes, we had about three starters in,” LaCava said. “Two captains out. But the backups just didn't focus. They thought of themselves as backups, when really, they're the starters now. They've got to step up.”

Both teams will compete at the Bulldog Duals at Fontainebleau on Saturday.

“We have tape on them now,” DesOrmeaux said. “We're going to review it as we go through the week, sit with our individual wrestlers and let them take a look at that, fix the mistakes, and come out and wrestle clean next time.”